Mark 6:2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
Reading through Mark this morning and I had this thought? If you don't believe Jesus is the Messiah, God with us, then where do you think He came from? Apparently, the people in his hometown had the same question. When Jesus began to reveal himself they could not figure out where this power and wisdom came from. Jesus did not come from a place of earthly power and did not display nature power or wisdom. He sprang on to the scene from a backwater and came with a supernatural power and message. If He is not from God how would you explain Him? I am convinced that if someone will seriously consider the person of Jesus, then Jesus will reveal himself in power to them.
I read a Ricky Gervais' (an atheist comedian) quote where he said that Christians just want other to consider Jesus unique among thousands of other gods, and of course his point was that belief in any god was ridiculous. But that is exactly what the Bible proposes we do with Jesus, namely compare Him to other gods and see that that He is different. That He is real. We don't have to shy away from such challenges. Jesus invites people to consider who He is, but if you start with a closed mind like an atheist who is dismissive before he has considered the evidence or the people in Jesus' hometown who only saw Him as the local boy, then you will stay blind.
As CS Lewis and GK Chesterton suggested, if you who Jesus is, then you have to come to the conclusion that He is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. Many people in the modern day would add perhaps a legend, but the Biblical and historical evidence is just too compelling to believe that He is just a legend. He must have lived and taught and gathered a following to have have had such an impact within just a few years. So if He is real, then who is He? Where did He come from? I think the primary reason so many people don't want to examine Jesus closely is that if He is who he claims to be then their lives should change in response.
In reading the story of Jesus, He is so compelling that I cannot help but believe. I desire to know Him more, and to be know by Him.
